


Final Girl Trope

by SDTS



Series: Uncharted Halloween [1]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Corpses, F/M, Halloween, Hauntings, Possession, Spirits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-18 20:05:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8174320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SDTS/pseuds/SDTS
Summary: When Sam and you explore a tomb of a witch that you have been searching for years, you can't wait to figure out the mysteries behind her life. Yet something has followed your group out of the tomb. Cut off from the outside world, Sam, you and the others find themselves in a battle to make it out alive.





	1. Chapter 1

            “Can you please stop running off ahead of me? Do I really have to remind you we are in some creepy tomb?” You call out after Sam.

            Ahead of you, you hear Sam go, “Sorry. But we’re almost at the burial chamber.”

            “Wonderful.” You grumble under your breath.

            Even though you definitely knew better about exploring tombs and ancient ruins with your ex-boyfriend, Sam Drake, you couldn’t resist this one. You have been looking for this lost tomb of the rumored witch, Amazona, for most of your life. The legend stated the witch had run off with treasure from the fabled Lost City of Atlantis before a curse killed her, leaving her buried in this rubble.

            You didn’t believe most of the legend. First off, as cool as it would be for there to be witches and a lost city under the ocean, there was no evidence truly proving either of those things. What you had pieced together over the years was nothing more than stories and scary tales to tell kids.

            What you were truly interested in, and always had been interested in, was learning about what was true – who was Amazona? How had she come to become this witch that was so legendary you felt compelled to discover the truth? How had she died down here in this hastily put together tomb? Any treasure you found was secondary to finding out more.

            Not to Sam Drake, of course. He had put a team together – his brother, Nate, parental guardian Sully, Nate’s wife Elena, Rafe Adler whom had all the money and was backing the project, and Rafe’s girlfriend, Nadine.

            As you almost slip and fall on the sudden slant of the floor, you steady yourself and go, “Wish you would have brought Lara Croft.”

            Sam sticks his head out from around the corner, his face illuminated by his flashlight and replies, “Why?”

            “I don’t know. Aren’t tombs her thing?” You say as you finally catch up with him.

            Sam looks down at you and frowns, “Nate and her don’t get along.”

            “Well, of course they don’t. They’re too similar.”

            “What?” He replies with a laugh, “How? She says he doesn’t take things seriously and he says she takes things too seriously.”

            When he turns around, his hand brushes against yours. The touch is light and Sam doesn’t even seem to notice it. But you do. You had dated Sam for a year before your differences proved to be too much for you. Sam was always on the move, as if his years in prison had made him unable to stay still for more than a minute. You wanted to slow down and possibly leave the whole relic hunting life behind you. In the end, it had been too much to deal with and you had left him.

            “Wait, here we are.” Sam goes and all thoughts about your previous relationship with him fade away.

            Instead, your heart races as the two of you stop in front of a door. It is covered in old carvings in a language neither one of you recognize. With your heart thudding in your chest, you push on the door. With Sam’s help, it groans as it opens.

            The air smells disgusting. Dank and musty, untouched for thousands of years. Wrinkling your nose, you step inside the burial chamber.

            “Reeks in here.” Sam grumbles.

            “Just smells like you after a night of drinking.” You quip as you raise your flashlight higher.

            “Very funny.” After the two of you look around the small chamber, there is no hiding the disappointment in his voice when he goes, “No treasure.”

            It is true. The burial chamber has a closed coffin in the center of the room. But there is no sign of the fabled treasure Amazona brought with her from the city of Atlantis. Sam looks frustrated now and has gone over to a row of sealed vases.

            “What are these?” He asks curiously.

            You aren’t interested in the vases. You go over to the coffin. The lid is ajar, as if someone has been here already and opened it. Is that possible? You supposed another treasure hunter could have gotten here before you…

            “Lara hasn’t come here, has she?” You are half serious, half joking.

            But Sam is lost in his own little world. You push the cover of the coffin off. It is empty. No bones are inside of it. You wipe the sweat from your brow and try to hide your frustration. This has to be where Amazona was buried. It makes no sense that her remains aren’t here.

            “She’s buried here. I know it.”

            “There isn’t even a single coin here. What the fuck?” Sam says at the same time you do.

            “There has to be something we missed. Perhaps a hidden passage or something. Let’s go back to the surface and regroup. Tell everyone what we found. Maybe Nate will find something we missed.” You say, turning around in defeat.

            “What? You want to leave already?” Sam gestures wildly.

            His hand accidentally knocks into one of the vases. It falls off the shelf and shatters at his feet. You curse at him, hurrying over and crouching down to see what had been inside of it. For some reason, the hair on the back of your neck stands up.

            “It’s empty.” You state the obvious as Sam leans over to look at it.

            “This is a bust. Maybe my info is bad.”

            “Don’t tell Rafe that.” You have only met Rafe for the first time on this trip but the guy seemed to be constantly one step away from a panic attack at all times.  

            “Come on. You’re right. The smell is starting to get to me in here. We’ll go over the maps. Double check everything.” Sam goes as he heads towards the exit.

            “So, what I suggested a minute ago then?” You say, annoyed.

            You straighten up and follow Sam out of the burial chamber. You pause at the exit and look back at the shattered vase, frowning. You don’t know why but something feels off. Is it the fact goosebumps have broken out across your skin? The way your hair on the back of your neck is still raised?

            In any case, you shrug it off and hurry after Sam. Lord knows he won’t wait for you.

*

            An hour later, everyone is back at ‘base camp’ which is basically a house of Rafe’s that is closest to the burial site. Up on the side of the mountain, the only way back to town is to take the van down the side and cross the bridge. The burial site is on the other side of the mountain at the bottom.

            The house, which had been in disrepair when Rafe had purchased it, has now been remodeled to his picky specifications. It is in the newly remodeled kitchen that everyone is looking over maps and other information on Amazona.

            “You messed up something,” Nate is saying through a mouthful of cookies, “What did you do?”

            “I didn’t do anything!” Sam protests.

            “You broke that vase.” You point out.

            “Good job. Break a vase in a burial chamber.” Nate goes as he shoves another cookie in his mouth.

            Behind you, Rafe is nagging Sully to put out his cigar because he doesn’t want anyone smoking in the house. Elena and Nadine are the only ones truly working, looking at a map together with a notebook propped open.

            “I don’t get it,” Nadine finally says, slicing through the conversation, “By all accounts, that was the correct spot. Her remains should have been there.”

            “What about the treasure?” Sam says.

            “The treasure was a myth,” You snap, losing your patience, “We came here for the remains.”

            “Nate and I didn’t come here for old witch bones.” Sam crosses his arms.

            God, he is so frustrating. The worst part? The way he crosses his arms shows off how in shape he is. In spite of your best efforts, you picture the way he looked shirtless, with his skin against yours, all the times the two of you slept together. Damn it.

            Dragging your eyes away from him, you look over at Elena who is nodding in agreement, “Maybe we just need to go in there with you guys. I know we didn’t because we weren’t sure how tight of a fit it would be, but we know now. We can all go.”

            Sully ignores Rafe along enough to go, “I’m not going in some goddamn witch burial chamber.”

            “You can stand guard for the ghosts.” Nate quips and before he can take another cookie, Sam plucks it out of his fingers and takes a bite.

            “Yeah, Rafe can join you.”

            Rafe scowls, “Ghosts aren’t real. You said there was going to be treasure.”

            You stifle a groan. A quick glance at the clock shows you that it is later than you had realized. Your body is sore from all the movement from the day and all you want to do is take a hot shower and crawl into bed.

            “I’m going to bed.” You say to the group before you can hear Sam complain about the treasure again.

            The last thing you hear before you head up the stairs is Sam going, “Not even a single coin was down there!”

*

            You are back in the burial chamber. You are pushing the lid off of the coffin. This time, there are bones inside of it. A jewel rests on the skull. It is a ruby, glimmering in the dull light from your flashlight.

            Bending over, you touch the jewel. As soon as your fingers touch the cold surface, the skeleton’s bony fingers wrap around your wrist and tries to yank you into the coffin.

            You let out a strangled scream and jerk back. The bones are wrapped so tightly around your fingers that you can feel them digging into your skin. The skeleton sits up now. Where the eye sockets were once empty, instead they are glowing with a bright blue light.

            You wince, still screaming, trying to escape. As you pull your arm, the skeleton’s fingers dig deeper into your skin. Blood wells up around the tips, staining the white bones. With another gasp of pain, you manage to free yourself from the grasp of the skeleton.

            With a shudder, you turn around to get out of the burial chamber. But the door is sealed shut. The skeleton is making a strange wheezing noise – a laugh that seems to scrap down your spine. It is sitting up in the coffin, coming for you – it is going to inhale you – eat you alive – you need to get out –

            “Whoa! Whoa, hey!”

            Your eyes snap open and you sit up, pushing the figure away from you, letting out a choked sob. Something is holding onto your wrists and you try to break free.

            “Hey! It’s me! You were dreaming!”

            Finally, you stop struggling long enough to see that it is Sam who has woken you up. He is holding your hands in an attempt to stop you from scratching his eyes out. Your breath catches as you look around. You are in the bedroom. There is no skeleton coming after you.

            “Sorry. Sorry, I was having a nightmare.” You whisper, pulling your hands away from his grip.

            “Yeah, I could hear you when I walked past the room. Are you okay?” Sam asks you tenderly.

            You nod although your tongue feels too large for your mouth and is sticking to the roof. You are covered in a layer of sweat as if you truly had been fighting off the skeleton. Sam’s hands are resting on your knees and he is looking at you patiently.

            Nightmares are rare for you and you feel exposed in front of your ex. The sight of Sam this close to you, on the bed, offering comfort, makes you feel strange although you can’t explain why. This close to him, with the moonlight pouring in through the window, makes him look almost as if he is glowing.

            His body is warm and familiar. How many times had the two of you been like this only to end up kissing and touching one another? Too many to count. In spite of your best attempts, you find yourself tracing the curve of his neck, along the tattoos you used to mock whenever the two of you fought (“Hot Topic style tats” you had said bitterly near the end of your relationship), to the way his t-shirt clings to his toned chest. That familiar scent of cigarettes and his spicy cologne make you nostalgic for your time together.

            “Do you want to talk about it?”

            “No.” You go quickly, “I just think that everyone talking about ghosts sunk into my brain.”

            “There is no such thing as ghosts.”

            “I know that.” You say harshly, as if you want to ward both Sam and the memory of your past with him away.

            But it doesn’t work because Sam is pushing a lock of hair out of your face. The touch is brief but his fingers brush against your cheek. Your body responds almost instantly. An electric shock seems to shoot down your spine.

            No, you tell yourself. The two of you didn’t work out the first time. You were here for Amazona, nothing else. A distraction, especially in the form of Sam Drake, is dangerous.

            You move away from him just enough for his fingers to be touching air. Sam looks slightly surprised but clears his throat and glances away from you.

            “Even if there were ghosts, I’m sure you could handle yourself against them.” Sam goes.

            You are about to reply when there is a noise against the window. You jump and grab onto Sam’s arm. The two of you turn to look at the glass, waiting to see if anything else happens. Feeling jumpy from your nightmare, you let go of Sam and hope he doesn’t see that you are blushing.

            “Probably a bird or something.” Sam says.

            “This late? An owl, maybe.” You say and don’t understand why your heart is beating so quickly.

            Sam turns to look at you. Behind him, you can’t help but stare at the window. A growing sense of foreboding is creeping over you. The moon has become covered with clouds, making the room even darker than before.

            “Well, I won’t keep you.” Sam says and stands up.

            You are torn between foolishly asking him to stay and letting him leave. Why do you feel creeped out? Yet before you can make a choice, you hear something –

            Low laughter in the distance.

            The hair on the back of your neck sticks up. Sam hears it too and glances back at the window, looking confused. The laugh is only a few seconds long but it is enough to get you out of bed. Yanking on your sweatpants and jacket as Sam is looking out the window, you try to ignore the lump in your chest.

            “I think Nate is out in the yard.” Sam finally says, turning around and heading out of the room.

            You follow him down the hallway and the stairs. No one else is up. They are probably all fast asleep. You feel lucky that Sam is still awake. Crossing the kitchen, he pushes open the patio door and walks towards Nate.

            Sam’s brother is crouched down in the dirt, digging up the land with his fingers. His back is to you and the sense of unease grows.

            “Uh, little brother?” When he doesn’t reply, Sam goes, “Nathan?”

            But Nate doesn’t seem to hear him. He is digging furiously into the ground, handfuls of grass in his fists, dirt underneath his fingernails. Sam looks over at you and you shrug, pulling your jacket around you closer.

            Sam finally rests his hand on Nate’s shoulder and tries to turn him around, “Nathan?”

            Nate spins around, as if he finally heard his brother and you let out a yelp of surprise. His eyes have completely rolled into the back of his head with only the whites showing. He is grinning from ear to ear. You take a step backwards, almost tumbling over in the dirt.

            “What the fuck?” You exclaim.

            Sam looks surprised, “Nathan? What’s wrong with you?”

            “Nothing fucking good! Look at him! He looks like Sully after he gets those Cuban cigars in and is too excited to focus on anything else.” You say, struggling to keep your voice even.

            Instead of replying, Nate begins to cackle. Between the whites of his eyes, his grin and his laughter, you are trying hard not to have a full blown panic attack.

            “Okay, Nathan, listen – come with me, okay? We’re going inside now. We’ll get you some rest…”

            “Some rest?” You point to him, “I don’t think he needs a nap, Sam!”

            Sam looks over at you, panic and concern etched into his face, “Just help me get him up!” He pleads.

            You hesitate but go over to Nate. Together, the two of you slip your arms under his, trying to pull him to his feet. But Nate protests, making a strange gurgling noise, and digs his heels into the soft earth.

            “He needs to get to a hospital.” Sam goes.

            “Can you watch him? Let me get everyone else awake so we can go. Elena, at the least.” You reply.

            He nods and you run back into the house, hoping Sam will be able to handle Nate. In a few minutes, you have roused everyone else. Elena heads off to the backyard instantly with Sully in pursuit. Rafe doesn’t seem too concerned.

            “Moron probably ate something he found in the backyard.” He grumbles, shoving things in his backpack.

            “Rafe.” Nadine snaps, looking out the window.

            You push past Rafe and head back outside. Elena is trying to talk sense into Nate but he is too focused on digging in the yard, like a mad dog. Sam looks panicked now. The three of you manage to wrangle Nate and force him into the house. He breaks free at some point and tries to go out the back door but Sully blocks his path.

            “What the hell is wrong with you?” Sully growls.

            “I’m calling 911,” Rafe exclaims, “Ridiculous.”

            Nadine goes over and grabs Nate. Before anyone can stop her, she ties his hands behind his back with a piece of rope.

            “What are you doing?” Elena asks, her voice an octave higher than normal.

            “Something is obviously wrong with him. No need for him to hurt himself or anyone else.” She replies steadily.

            Behind you, Rafe is pressing buttons on his phone. His brow is furrowed and when he looks up at the group, you somehow know what he is going to say before he says it.

            “No phone service. No internet access. Nothing.”

            “Don’t you have a satellite phone?” Sam asks.

            Just then, Nate rolls his head back and cackles loudly. His entire body seems to convulse with laughter before his head slumps forward, a wicked grin on his face.

            When he finally speaks, it isn’t his voice at all but something that sounds like sandpaper and a wood chipper all at once, “ _None of you are leaving_.”

            Then his entire body goes limp. Elena leaps forward to try to catch him before he falls. Sully props him up and tries to shake him awake.

            “Nate?” Sully grunts, “Nate!”

            You feel as if your chest has constricted so much you are on your way to heart attack city. You look around the room. Nadine has gone very still. Rafe has his phone in one hand with a blank expression on his face. Sam’s own face is nothing concern, same with Elena’s and Sully’s. Yet the entire group, and yourself, share one expression – fear.

            “Get him in the car. Rafe, get the satellite phone,” Nadine goes, taking charge, “See if it works. We’re leaving now.”

            No one argues. Sam picks up Nate. Elena offers to help but he shrugs her off. Normally, he would have joked that Nate had gained weight. Tonight, however, there are no jokes. Elena and Sam hurry towards the van with Nate.

            You hurry upstairs, shoving what you can in bags. Anything not vital can wait for later. You have a feeling you know what is going on – but to verbalize it would make it real, wouldn’t it?

            Down the steps you go. Rafe is trying to get his satellite phone to work but you know it is a wasted effort. Secretly…you think leaving might be a wasted effort as well.

            Before long, everyone has piled into the van. Sam is driving. From here, you can see how tightly he is gripping the wheel. His knuckles are white. Rafe is next to him, still attempting to get his phone to work.

            You are in the back with Nadine. In the row of seats in front of you, Nate is unconscious in the center in between Elena and Sully. Elena has her hand gripping Nate’s and is whispering in his ear.

            As Sam takes the turn down the mountain, you glance outside the window. The moon is still covered by a thick layer of clouds. Your chest feels very tight as if someone is sitting on it. Next to you, Nadine is drumming her fingers against her knee.

            “I still think he just ate something weird.” You hear Rafe say stubbornly.

            “Rafe, shut up.” Nadine replies simply.

            Luckily, Rafe does. You are gripping the bottom of your seat now as the van heads towards the bridge. You know…you know…but you are praying you are wrong. Isn’t this how horror movies always start? You didn’t make a habit of watching them but everyone knows the clichés.

            As if sensing the van is approaching the bridge, the clouds suddenly break apart from the moon. The full moon illuminates where the bridge should be –

            “No fucking way.” Sam goes.

            The bridge is destroyed, cleanly sliced in half, separating you from the real world.

            “What the hell?” Sully goes.

            Sam is getting out of the van. Elena is yanking open the side door, allowing you to squeeze out after her. Hurrying after Sam, the two of you stop at the edge of the mountain.

            “This can’t be happening.” Elena says.

            “Did we wake up in the _Evil Dead_ or something?” You ask nervously.

            “Don’t be ridiculous.” Sam says but his tone is weak as if he knows the truth.

            Then you hear it – that laugh again. Nate has woken up. You hurry back to the van and look at Nate, cackling as everyone else watches in horror.

            “ _I told you_ ,” He goes in that terrible voice, “ _None of you are leaving. No one is going back home until I get what I want._ ”

            And he grins.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding their only means of escape sealed off, the group must decide the next course of action. However, it feels as if all choices are removed for them as you and the others must deal with the appearance of new creatures. Dealing with both Sully and Nate being possessed, as well as this new threat, you try to keep it together. With Sam's help, you are determined to find some way to protect yourself...although it might not turn out how you were hoping.

            The room is silent. In the distance, you can hear a thunderstorm rolling in. Of course. How many more clichés can be jammed into one night?

            Nate has been placed on the couch. His arms are still tied together but currently he looks as peaceful as can be. He is unconscious, having passed out after he told everyone lovingly that they weren’t ever leaving.

            Elena has a cold cloth pressed against his head. Rafe is in the other room, determined to make his stupid satellite phone work. Sully is smoking a cigar and gazing out the window.

            Nadine comes in from the dining room and hands Elena a bottle of water, “Here. For the cloth.”

            “Thanks.” Elena says tiredly as she takes it from her, “He’s running a bad fever.”

            “Possession will do that.”

            The quip came from Sam, who is sitting in one of the larger lounge chairs. He is slumped in it with his eyes closed. A cigarette dangles from his fingertips. Apparently no one cares that Rafe doesn’t want smoking in the house. You suppose it doesn’t really matter, given the circumstances.

            Rafe storms back into the living room, “This phone doesn’t work. I’m returning it when we get back.”

            Darkly, Sam goes, “If.”

            “Don’t.” You say to him.

            He falls silence and glances over at Nate. Even from here, you can tell his skin is flushed from fever. His lips are moving as if he is trying to speak but no sound comes out.

            “You don’t really believe Nate is possessed.” Rafe deadpans and looks around the room, “Please tell me none of you guys believe that shit.”

            “How could we not?” Elena replies, raising her head, “We’ve all seen stuff we can’t explain before in the past. This could just be one of those situations.”

            “Well, I’ve never come across anything like ghosts.” Rafe said stubbornly.

            Sully takes a puff off his cigar and looks over at Sam, “There anything in all those books you brought that could help us?”

            Sam still looks out of it. You go over to him and crouch down in front of him. His eyes are distant as he stares at his brother. You have seen this look before on nights where he couldn’t sleep. Sometimes he would have nightmares about being back in prison.

            “Sam. Hey. Look at me.” You say softly.

            He tears his eyes away from Nate and looks down at you, “What?”

            “The research material. Let’s go through it together, alright? We might be able to discover something about Amazona.”

            Sam nods and you take his hand, tugging him out of the chair and into the dining room. The two of you sit down and begin to look through the material. But you are having a hard time focusing. How can you not be having trouble? A vicious witch’s spirit has taken over Nate. She has sealed off your only means of escape.

            She is coming for all of you.

            “Hey.”

            Sam’s voice cuts through your anxiety and you look up. Gingerly, he reaches across the table and rests his hand on yours. His skin is warm and familiar. The touch, as small as it is, comforts you.

            “We’ll figure it out. Vengeful spirit or not. We’ll get out of here.” He says and even though you know the situation is dire, you allow yourself to feel hopeful that everything will be okay.

            With renewed focus, both of you start going through the papers. You can hear Sully and Rafe fighting about the next step. If you glance into the living room, you can still see Elena hunched over Nate, trying to take care of him. Nadine is going through the kitchen for supplies.

            You aren’t sure how much time has passed before Sam mumbles your name and slides something over to you. It is an old script, yellowed from age and curled around the edges. The bottom half is missing.

            “Lovely.” You say dryly as you look at the illustration he is showing you.

            The drawing is of what appears to be a woman standing in the middle of the altar. She has her hands raised and her chest is glowing. Around her are floating objects.

            “What are those? Chaos emeralds?” You ask.

            “Very funny. No,” He runs his finger along the script on the top of the page which is a suspicious red colour, “Nathan and I never found the rest of this page. But this, roughly translated, says something about Amazona’s ‘many hearts’.”

            “Many hearts?” You repeat, studying the drawing.

            Sam frowns, “Not sure what it could be mean but out of everything we have, it’s the only thing that sounds sort of like it could be linked to a curse or a legend or something –”

            A sudden scream from the living room causes both of you to look up from the drawing. Sam takes off first towards the room with you hot on his heels.

            The first thing you see is that Sully has his hands wrapped around Rafe’s neck and is choking him. The whites of his eyes glint in the living room light. On the couch, Nate has awoken – but his eyes are also rolled back into his head and he is cackling.

            Nadine rushes over to Sully and kicks him square in his side. Yet he doesn’t even seem to feel it. Moving one hand off of Rafe’s neck, he backhands Nadine. The force of the hit sends her toppling over the couch.

            “Great, super powers.” You hear Sam say.

            Nate is still laughing. His head is thrown back as Elena shouts at him in an attempt to get through to him. On a whim, you pick up the nearest desk lamp. Sam is grappling with Sully, trying to get his hands off of Rafe’s neck.

            You dart behind Sully and bring the lamp down. It shatters against his skull. Surprised, he releases Rafe who doesn’t hesitate to punch him square in the face. Sully falls backwards, landing on the lounge chair, unconscious. At the same time Sully goes out like a light, so does Nate. The living room is silent again.

            “Are you okay?” Sam asks Rafe as you hurry over to help Nadine up, who is rubbing her jaw.

            Rafe is trying to get his hair back into place. His neck is a deep red and will probably bruise.

            “I’ll get some ice.” Elena says, hurrying into the kitchen.

            Rafe brushes off Sam’s concern, “I’m over this shit. All of this shit. We’re getting out of here.”

            “How?” You go, “The bridge is cut. Amazona isn’t going to let us leave.”

            “These aren’t spirits!” He snaps.

            “What, Sully and Nate are just doing this for fun?” Nadine hisses.

            You can tell the tensions are rising in the room and try to step in between Rafe and Nadine before they start throwing punches.

            “Listen, we have to restrain Sully. If he’s under her control now too, it isn’t safe to just leave him around.” You go.

            “I’ll do it. Wouldn’t want Rafe here to get his hands dirty.” Her lip curls in disgust as she pushes past him.

            Elena comes back with small bags of ice. She places one on Nate’s forehead and gives one to Rafe who just holds it in his hand instead of placing it against his neck. Then she goes over to help Nadine try to tie up Sully.

            “Did you guys find anything in the research papers?” Elena asks over her shoulder.

            Sam recaps what he found with the drawing and many hearts but Rafe doesn’t look impressed. He is still holding the ice bag in one hand and is trying to get his satellite to work in his other.

            “Enough with the phone, Rafe.” Sam says, losing patience, “It isn’t going to work. Whether you want to believe this or not, it’s supernatural in origin.”

            “If your brother or that old man attacks me, I’m putting them down. Do you hear me? I will put them down like rapid dogs.”

            “No, you won’t.” Elena’s voice is taunt as a wire as she goes over to him, staring at him icily.

            The room is silent again. All eyes are on Rafe. Finally, after a few tense seconds, he shrugs and puts his phone away.

            “Fuck this.” He mumbles, turning around and plopping down in the nearest chair.

            Elena exhales and looks over at Sam, “What next? Nate is sick. Sully will be too. This witch can get any of us at any time. We need a game plan. Maybe we can go back to the burial chamber?”

            “Maybe we can communicate with her somehow. Like…with an Ouija board.” Sam goes.

            “Are you a teenage girl?” Rafe says, “Are we going to ask Amazona if Billy likes you or if he likes likes you? God, the suspense is really fucking killing me, Samuel.”

            Sam looks over his shoulder, “You’re terrible in high pressure situations. You know that, right?”

            “Enough. We don’t have time to fight.” You go, rubbing your forehead which is pounding.

            No one gets to reply. Across the house, there is the sound of broken glass followed by the power going out. Everyone is plunged into darkness. Thunder booms in the distance.

            “Fuck me with a chainsaw.” Rafe grumbles.

            “I grabbed candles earlier.” Nadine says helpfully and after a few seconds, there is a flicker of light as she puts a candle on the coffee table.

            “Who is going to look into the glass breaking?” You ask.

            “I’m staying with Nate.” Elena replies, going over to sit by the couch.

            “I’m keeping an eye on Sully then.” Nadine goes, “I’m the only one here who has a shot at taking any of them down if they escape.”

            “Fair point. That means you and I are going.” He says, nudging you.

            “And what the hell am I? Chopped liver? I’m coming with you guys. Not sticking around here to be attacked by Nate.”

            “Lucky us.” You mumble.

            Rafe leans over and grabs a poker out of the fire place and holds it like a weapon. Nadine opens up the coat closet and rummages around before handing you a tennis racket and Sam a baseball bat.

            “Wonderful weapons to take down the undead.” Sam says.

            “Can we switch?” You ask sheepishly, gesturing to his bat.

            “Jesus, fine, here, Harley Quinn.” He says, trading with you.

            With a quick glance at his brother, Sam follows Rafe out of the living room into the hallway. You trail after them. Your heart is beating very quickly. Rafe has grabbed a flashlight and holds it up as you make your way down the hallway.

            “Probably broke in the study.” He says to the two of you.

            The palms of your hands are sweaty and make holding the bat harder. Sam’s body is tight with tension as your group stops in front of the study.

            “Why is the door closed?” You whisper.

            “I don’t know.” Rafe admits.

            When he grabs the door handle, you can see that his hand is shaking. You don’t blame him. You hold your breath as he opens the door. It swings open. His flashlight illuminates the shattered window. Glass is strewn across the carpet. You hear another boom of thunder.

            Rafe steps inside first and swings his flashlight around. Sam follows him. You don’t see anything. The study looks normal. Books line the shelves. A desk with a computer is against one wall.

            Sam goes into the middle of the room, motioning for Rafe to move the light to the broken window. As Rafe does so, his flashlight moves across the corner of the room.

            You barely have time to scream his name before the creature has leapt on top of Sam. It tackles him to the floor. You run over and began to try to beat it off of Sam with your bat.

            Sam is struggling underneath the thing. Rafe has dropped the flashlight. It rolls against the wall. The dim source of light shows you just the side of writhing creature on top of Sam. It looks vaguely human like but there is something wrong with it – its skin is covered in what looks like thorns. Its entire body appears to be pitch black and bumpy.

            Rafe slams the fire place poker into the creature’s head. It lets out a wail and spins its head completely around to stare at him. You gasp and almost stumble backwards. It has empty eye sockets and rows of razor sharp teeth glimmering its mouth. Its skin appears to be _moving_ as if there are things just under the surface that are wiggling about.

            Then it pushes off of Sam and collides into you. You slam backwards against the bookshelf. Books tumble out and fall down on you as you wildly push your hands out to try to get the creature off of you.

            It screeches again and the sound makes you dizzy. Your bat falls from your hand as the creature pins you down by your shoulders and opens its mouth.

            _Is this it?_ You think, dazed, _this thing is going to eat my face off. What a way to go. Aren’t I supposed to be thinking about my life? Isn’t it supposed to be flashing before my eyes? Shit, I’m never going to see if Kylo Ren gets a redemption arc –_

Then the fire poker goes clear through the creature’s neck. Startled, it closes its mouth and turns its head back around. You push it away from you and snatch up your bat. Rafe had jammed the poker into its neck. Sam is holding his tennis racket like some sort of stake as if he can jam it into the monster’s body.

            You slam the bat against the poker that is still jammed in its neck. The creature twitches, its entire body lurching forward towards Sam. Rafe, weaponless, is holding back with the flashlight raised against the monster.

            You bring down the bat again. At the same time, Sam slams the racket through the creature’s chest. You hear what sounds like bones breaking and metal on metal – although you don’t know how that could be – and then the racket is sticking out of the other side of the creature.

            It lets out a gurgling noise and lowers it hands. Then it drops to the ground, convulsing. The three of you stare at it, horrified. An inky black liquid is pooling below it and spreading out across the carpet.

            “What the fuck was that thing?” Rafe asks, out of breath.

            “I don’t know.” You mumble, unable to tear your eyes away from it.

            “Sam, how did you know to hit it in the heart?”

            You look over at Sam, who is staring down at it wide-eyed, “Uh, from horror movies. You always kill the monsters in the heart.”

            Rafe nods in acceptance but something about his explanation doesn’t sit right with you.

            “Come on,” Sam goes, clearly not wanting to discuss it further, “We need to check up on the others.”

            Rafe ignores Sam and crouches down towards the creature, illuminating it with his flash light, “Shouldn’t we study this thing? Carve it open and see what is inside of it?”

            “No way,” You go, “Whatever is underneath its skin will probably explode or attack us. Didn’t you see _Cloverfield?_ The monster had like…mini-monsters attached to it.”

            Rafe pokes at its skin and grabs one of its hands. Sam makes an impatient noise.

            “You want to ask the thing out on a date?” He snaps.

            “No, I’m just seeing what the skin is like.” Rafe replies hotly.

            “We don’t have time for a fucking autopsy right now.”

            Rafe goes to reply and moves back a little. When he does, the monster’s hand disconnects completely from its body. Both Rafe and yourself jump back in disgust.

            “Okay, losing limbs. That’s gross. Fine. But one of us should be studying this thing.” Rafe says, making a disgusted noise at the fluid on his fingers.

            The three of you quickly get back to the living room. The thunder is louder now. You are dreading the storm. You can’t get over that weird creature that had attacked you. Were there more of them? What the fuck were those things? The idea makes the fear feel as if it has completely taken over your brain. You are just trying not to panic.

            When you get back to the living room, you only see Sully and Nate, both still tied up. Confused, you call out for Elena and Nadine. Sam and Rafe look around for them but it is as if they have vanished.

            As if on cue in some twisted play, both Sully and Nate open their white eyes and begin to cackle again. You are really starting to hate that laugh.

            “What did you do with Nadine?” Rafe demands, completely losing his cool and punching Nate directly in the face.

            Even though you are sure you hear a cracking noise of Nate’s noise breaking, he doesn’t seem to even be affected by it. He just keeps laughing as Sam yanks Rafe away from him.

            “What is wrong with you?!” He cries out.

            “Wrong with me? Where the fuck is my girlfriend?” Rafe says, pushing Sam.

            You slip in between the two of them, holding your hands out, “Can we not do this? Rafe, stop punching people, possessed or not! Sam, we have to focus on finding Elena and Nadine!”

            “ _You won’t find them. They belong to her now._ ”

            “Shut up, Sully.” Sam says in a tired voice.

            “We have to get them back,” Rafe goes urgently, “But we can’t go after those monsters with these shitty weapons.”

            “Do you have guns or something?” You ask curiously.

            “There’s a wood shed out back. I have weapons underneath the floor in there. They’re technically illegal so I hid them. But…”

            You throw your hands up, “No way! Not in the wood shed! Jesus, can we walk into every single stereotype there is tonight?”

            Sam reaches out for you and pulls you towards him. As Rafe goes through the closet, ignoring both Nate and Sully hurling insults his way, to find flashlights and other things to use as weapons, Sam lowers his voice.

            “Listen. No, really. This isn’t the _Evil Dead._ Get the weapons, come back and we can find out what is going on.”

            “Aren’t you coming with?” You say nervously.

            “I have to stay here to watch Nathan.” Sam’s voice catches, “Someone has to stay behind to watch both of them and it can’t be Rafe.”

            “So let me stay.” You go, worried about leaving Sam alone with the two of them.

            But you know that determined look in his eyes. It is useless to argue with him. He wants to stay here with Nate and no force on earth would have him abandon his brother.

            “You’re better at handling Rafe than I am.” Sam goes – a paltry argument that you aren’t even sure is true but you know you can’t fight against.

            “ _We’re going to get you next, rich boy, and tear you limb from limb._ ” Sully is saying in that awful voice to Rafe as he rummages through the closet.

            “Yeah, yeah, great.” He says as he pulls out another flashlight.

            “Hey,” Sam’s voice gets your attention and you look back at him, “Are you okay after that thing attacked you?”

            “Been better. I thought…I thought I was going to die.” You admit.

            “Me too.” Sam lowers his voice, “I couldn’t help but think about what I fucked up during my life, you know? Did you think about past mistakes too?”

            “Uh, no, I was thinking about how I won’t ever know if Kylo Ren is gonna redeem himself in _Star Wars_.” You admit quietly.

            Sam rubs his hand over his face and then actually laughs, “You’re crazy, you know that, right?”

            Before you can reply, Rafe interrupts, “Alright. Here’s a flashlight for you. Keep the bat unless you want this butcher’s knife from the kitchen that I got.”

            “Uh, no, I’ll stick with the bat.” You go.

            “Come on then.”

            “ _They’re coming for you, they’re coming for you,_ ” Nate and Sully are chanting, “ _They’re coming to get you, Rafe._ ”

            “Get some original lines.” Rafe says under his breath, pushing past you towards the dining room.

            Sam grabs your hand. He looks as if he wants to say more to you but neither of you know what to say. What words can express how either one of you are feeling?

            “Come back safely.” Is all he finally says.

            “Be careful.” You go and squeeze his hand before following Rafe.

*

            The backyard, which yesterday morning had seemed gorgeous and relaxing, now seems menacing and daunting. The moon offers some extra light to go by but you can see the massive storm rolling in. The trees all look dead, dangling down as if they have wilted in a couple of hours.

            Your mouth is dry. Your tongue is sticking to the roof of your mouth. As your heart beats rapidly in your chest and your sneakers squish against the dew covered grass, you know this is a bad idea. Weapons in a wood shed? Monsters creeping around? Elena and Nadine missing? Sam left with a possessed Nate and Sully? The entire thing is a cluster fuck.

            But you also know that you need those weapons. Without guns, everyone will be fighting with knives and sporting equipment. There is no doubt that Amazona can crush those items if she really felt like it.

            Rafe doesn’t speak. He leads the way towards the wood shed. The two of you make it there without incident. He pushes the door open which creaks loudly. You glance over your shoulder, wondering if you are going to see any of those lurching figures come out of the darkness.

            Rafe leans over and turns on a lantern which illuminates the small space. He goes over to the other side of the narrow room and crouches down.

            “Weapons are under here. Guns, ammo, anything we might need to take these fuckers down.” He explains to you as he pushes a large tool box out of the way.

            “Great. Any reason why you have this stuff? Not that I am complaining.” You ask, bouncing on the balls of your feet.

            “Better safe than sorry.” Is all he replies with.

            He unlocks the padlock and lifts out a duffel bag. He lowers it to the ground and stands up.

            “Alright. This is it. Let’s go.”

            That is when everything goes to hell.

            Out of nowhere, one of those creatures lunges into the wood shed. You are knocked against the wall causing the tools to rattle above your head. The creature grabs you by the throat and begins to squeeze.

            You are staring right into its empty eye sockets as you flail your limbs, trying to escape its grip. Another monster slinks into the wood shed, cornering Rafe. Rafe is fumbling with the duffel bag, trying to get a gun out.

            Your fingers curl around a screwdriver. With a scream, you bring the screwdriver into the monster’s empty eye socket. The monster lurches backwards and you kick your legs up against its body. It falls backwards, trying to pry the screwdriver out of its eye.

            As you crawl away from it, it grabs your ankle and pulls you back. You scream again. Rafe has been pinned down in the corner. For the first time, you can truly see how disgusting these creatures are. With lumpy bodies and skin that seems to be moving on its own, as black as an oil slick, the creatures seem to be corrupted human bodies.

            You kick your legs wildly, trying to free yourself from the monster’s grip. It has opened its mouth. Its teeth seem to glow in the dim lighting. You grip the edge of the work bench and try to pull yourself up.

            Rafe swings and punches the monster in the face before shooting at it with his gun. The monster’s head explodes. You are splattered with the inky black fluid you had seen earlier. Its corpse hits the ground and a foul smell fills the air.

            “Rafe!” You shriek for help.

            Rafe, who is covered head to toe in the fluid and looks dazed, snaps out of it to assist you. You bring your foot down again against the monster’s hand, freeing your other leg. Scampering to your feet, you run over to Rafe.

            The two of you are pinned down against the side of the shed. He fires. The shot isn’t clean and slams through the belly of the creature instead. It doesn’t seem to feel it.

            “They’re like zombies!” You cry, “You have to aim for the head! Or the heart! Sam killed one through the heart, remember?!”

            “I’m not a fucking marksman!” Rafe yells as he fires another bullet.

            You grab a machete off the table, not wanting to know why Rafe just casually had one laying around in the shed. The blast to the stomach has slowed the creature down. He raises his gun and fires it again.

            This second shot goes clean through the shoulder, knocking the creature off balance. Unable to wait for Rafe to aim properly, you leap forward and bring your machete down.

            Your original plan had been to swipe its head off. You had seen it in movies. It would have worked.

            But the monster seemed to sense what you were doing. With its good hand, it smacks you in the head, causing you to topple out onto the grass just outside the wood shed.

            Your head is dizzy. Your vision is blurring from the force of the impact. Stumbling to your feet, you try to get to Rafe in time.

            But the monster has switched tactics. You can hardly believe the sight. It has opened its mouth and a long, thin tongue has wrapped its grip around Rafe’s wrist. As if in slow motion, the gun tumbles from his hand. He lets out a gasp of pain as blood drips from his wrist.

            The tongue tightens on Rafe’s wrist. You are screaming but you know you are going to be too late. As you raise your machete and try to get to him in time, the monster brings his mouth down around Rafe’s wrist.

            There is a scream of torment from Rafe and the sound of bones crushing as the monster cleaves through Rafe’s wrist. At the same time, your machete slices through the air and cuts through the creatures neck cleanly.

            Fluid explodes from its head as the body drops to the ground. Its head rolls to your feet. In front of you, Rafe has fallen into the corner, holding the stub of his hand, shrieking wildly as he tries to stop the flow of blood with his other hand. You can see the blood pulsing through his fingertips.

            You look down. The monster’s face is staring up at you. Rafe’s hand is still in its mouth.

            Nothing good ever happens in the wood shed.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is up to you to get an injured Rafe back to the house before it is too late. With Nadine and Elena missing, and Nate and Sully possessed, you know that Sam has to have some idea about what is going on. Determined to make sure Rafe is okay and get to the safety of Sam's arms, you are willing to be as brave as you possibly can in hopes to make it out alive.

            The day before everyone had opened up the tomb, leading to the current mess you are stuck in, the group had been back at Rafe’s place. It had been late and everyone besides Nate, Sam, Rafe and yourself had gone to bed.

            It was then that Nate had come out of one of the many rooms holding a rapier with a shit eating grin on his face.

            “Rafe, please tell me you don’t fence. That’s just too perfect.” He had said.

            Rafe had yanked the weapon out of Nate’s hands, glowering. You hadn’t known him for very long but it was evident that the two men didn’t get along too well.

            “For your information, yes, I do fence.” He had announced proudly as Sam chuckled next to you.

            Then Rafe had held the rapier in his right hand.

            The same hand that is currently at your feet.

            Slamming back into the present, the memory leaves you. Rafe’s screams are filling your head as you hurry over to him. He is hunched over in the corner, cradling his stub, letting out inhuman noises.

            “Rafe!” You exclaim, crouching down next to him, “Come on. We have to get back to the house before more of those things attack us!”

            “My fucking hand!” He keeps shouting this over and over, refusing to move.

            You reach out for him. Your fingers dig into his shoulder as you try to yank him up. Your skin is covered in sweat and whatever disgusting fluid those creatures leak. You desperately wish that Sam could be here with you.

            But he isn’t and you need to deal with this situation yourself. You manage to get Rafe to his feet. He is babbling incoherently now. You manage to get him outside of the wood shed.

            As you hobble away, clutching at Rafe, who is holding onto his stub, he stops suddenly. You practically fall down.

            “My hand!” He goes.

            “Rafe, I know! It’s gone!”

            “No, idiot, I mean, I have to go get it! The doctors can reattach it if we get out of here!”

            Before you can stop him, he pushes away from you and stumbles back to the wood shed. Knowing you can’t exactly leave the guy who just lost his hand alone, you spin around and go after him.

            It is then you realize something is crawling across the floor of the wood shed. The two of you have stopped in the doorway. Your brain can hardly wrap around what you are seeing.

            The creatures are reforming. They are snapping back into place as if Rafe didn’t blow one of them away with a gun and you hadn’t sliced one of them up with a machete. Rafe makes a strange gurgling noise in the back of his throat and takes a step backwards.

            An image flickers across your mind. Sam, back in the study, staking the monster through the heart. It didn’t come back after that. And then –

            “The many hearts,” You say aloud as it clicks, “Rafe, we have to get them through the heart or they are just going to come back!”

            The first creature has reformed now. It has snapped back into place as if you had never cleaved through its neck with a machete. To your horror, you realize that it has somehow absorbed Rafe’s hand.

            “That thing has my fucking hand!” He exclaims yet is wavering where he stands.

            He is losing too much blood. You have to get him back to the house before he dies. The second creature is reforming now. In a few seconds, you are both going to be cornered. Rafe staggers forward as if he is still going to try to get his hand.

            You yank him back and grab his remaining hand, tugging him with you. You are running across the grass now as the creatures begin to take off after you. Rafe is slower than you and you wish you were strong enough to carry him. You’d throw him over your shoulder. Fuck, you’d carry him bridal style at this point. You don’t care.

            You start shrieking Sam’s name as you come closer to the back door of the house. Rafe stumbles and falls. He hits the grass. You turn around and try to get him up.

            “Rafe, please, for the love of all things holy, get the fuck up!” You cry, trying to get him to his feet.

            “My hand, my hand.” He moans and you notice how pale his skin has gotten from blood loss.

            The first creature approaches you. The duffel bag is at your feet but you don’t have enough time to grab a weapon. The gun that Rafe had been holding had been taken with his hand.

            Screaming, you shove your machete through the monster’s chest. It slams through the thick skin and appears through its back. Then it falls forward on you. Yelping in disgust, you push the corpse off of you.

            The second creature slides across the grass as if it is swimming. Rafe is unconscious now. Your throat is hoarse from screaming. You grab the duffel bag. Your hands fumble with the zipper to grab a gun as the creature comes closer to you…your breath catches…once again, you are staring death in the face only this time there is only hot white fear lashing out across your skull –

            There is a gunshot and the creature goes flying backwards. It lands on its back, gurgling as it claws as its chest. You turn around to see Sam coming out of the house holding a gun. You want to call his name but your chest feels too tight to even breath.

            The monster is getting up now. The shot had missed its heart. Propelled forward by the fear of Rafe dying and the monster getting to Sam, you are on top of the creature. You bring your machete up and swing it down as hard as you can.

            It slices through the monster’s chest and hits the heart. The black fluid sprays out the wound, covering your face. Some gets in your mouth and for a few seconds you swear that you are going to vomit.

            But then the creature stops writhing and goes still. You slide off of it, gasping for air. Your breathing is coming hard and fast now as if your lungs are a popped balloon. Your hands are shaking. The stars above you seem to be swirling. Are you dying? Maybe you are dying.

            “I’m here. Hey, I’m here. Listen to me,” Sam’s voice sounds very far away and your teeth are chattering violently in your skull, “We have to get Rafe in the house before more of them come, okay? Keep it together for one more minute. Can you do that for me? Baby, can you do that for me?”

            Something about him calling you ‘baby’ seems to bring you back crashing to earth. His hands are on your cheeks and he is looking at you very intently. You take in a shuddering breath and nod. Sam moves away from you and goes over to Rafe. You hear him mumble under his breath at the sight of his mauled friend.

            You get to your feet and help Sam with getting Rafe back into the house. Nothing else comes after you. Sam kicks the door shut behind him. To your surprise, on the dining room table is the corpse of the monster from the study. Sam must have taken Rafe’s suggestion and been looking into it.

            “Nate and Sully are still unconscious in the living room.” He says as the two of you get Rafe into the master bedroom which is alight with candles – you are glad that Sam has taken some time to make sure the house is as light as it can be.

            “Someone should be watching them.” Your voice sounds small to your ears.

            “You have to help me with Rafe. What happened?” He asks you as you get Rafe to the bed.

            You recount the wood shed up until Sam had saved you. At this point, Rafe is staring to wake up. You wish he would stay unconscious. You wouldn’t want to be awake for this.

            “Stay here with him.” Sam says and darts out of the bedroom.

            Rafe cracks his eyes open. Your breath catches. What if he doesn’t remember he lost his hand? His dominant hand? Oh fuck, his dominant hand. It’s okay. This is fine. You can totally explain to him that not only has he lost his dominant hand but he also lost the hand to one of those monster things and he won’t be able to reattach it. Wait, do they make robot hands? Maybe Rafe could get a robot hand like Luke Skywalker. Is that a thing? You’re going to have a panic attack and you still have all your limbs.

            Rafe mumbles something. You are suddenly terrified that he is going to die in front of you. You reach out and grab his good hand, leaning over him. His breath rattles. What is he going to tell you? What if he starts confessing his sins or something? You really can’t even imagine the sins of Rafe Adler.

            Quietly, Rafe opens his mouth and goes, “What the fuck.”

            You were expecting sins. Casual cursing takes you by surprise. He yanks his hand away from yours.

            “Don’t coddle me.” He hisses through clenched teeth.

            “Sorry. I just thought…”

            “What? That I’m a cripple so I need coddling?”

            “No!” You bite your tongue before you tell him to calm down – he’s earned the right to be an asshole.

            “Listen to me,” His voice is so quiet that you have to practically have your ear against his lips, “I. Am. Going. To. Fucking. Die.” Each word is punctuated with a gasp for breath, “Unless you and dumbass figure out how to stop the bleeding.”

            “I know. Sam – he’s coming back – he’s getting something.”

            Another rattle of air followed by, “How am I going to do anything now? Do you know what I did with that hand?”

            Fearing a masturbation reference, you mumble out a “No, but –”

            Rafe cuts you off, “I would count money. I’d get it in little stacks and count it. The money.” His stub is bleeding again, oozing out blood onto the sheets, “Nadine is going to break up with me if she isn’t dead already.” His voice sounds pitiful.

            “No, she isn’t. If anything, she’d dump you because you’re an ass.” You say without thinking.

            “My money. My money.” He repeats, his voice raising an octave.

            Sam comes back then with a first aid kit and a fireplace poker. You have seen enough movies to know what he is going to do. He brings a candle over to the bed and holds the poker over it to heat it up.

            Rafe turns his head to look at Sam who goes, “Holding up okay?”

            “I lost my fucking hand.”

            “I heard.” Sam replies as the fire poker begins to glow.

            “Is this where you have to rub that across his stub?” You say, feeling slightly sick.

            “We have to cauterize the wound,” Sam goes and then looks back at Rafe, “Listen…this is going to really, really hurt.”

            Rafe takes in a shuddering breath. You can hear the storm starting. The rain is pounding against the roof of the house. The candles are flickering and casting shadows across the room.

            “If I don’t do this, you’re going to die.” Sam says when Rafe doesn’t reply.

            “Sam,” He is fading now, quickly, and his lips hardly move as he goes, “If I die – you gotta get Nadine. You have to find Nadine.”

            “I promise. I’ll get her.”

            “And my money.” He adds swiftly.

            “Alright, Mr. Krabs. Settle in. This is going to really suck.” Sam goes.

            And he raises up the fireplace poker.

*

            How much is therapy? Lifelong therapy? You wonder if you can fit it in your budget somehow. After seeing Sam “patch up” Rafe’s stub, you don’t think you are ever going to forget not only the screams of pain, but the scent of burning flesh.

            Afterwards, Rafe is unconscious again. His stub is wrapped up in a gauze and fully bandaged. You are sitting on the floor of the master bathroom. A candle is in front of you. Your entire body feels disgusting. You are still covered in that disgusting substance from those creatures. But there is no way you are going to try to shower right now. You have seen _Psycho_ after all.

            There is a soft knock on the door and Sam slips into the bathroom. Leaving the door slightly ajar, he sits down on the tile floor across from you. Lowering his own candle, he pulls out a cigarette and leans over, letting the flame light it.

            “Did you check on Nate and Sully?” You ask.

            “Still unconscious. Both have bad fevers.”

            “We have to find Nadine and Elena,” You go, “Rafe…”

            “Still not might make it,” Sam finishes for you, sounding tired, “I know.”

            “Those things…they reformed. We thought we had killed them but they merged back together. You knew to kill them in the heart. Why?” You ask him.

            With the candles flickering across Sam’s face, you can just barely make out him swallowing. The stubble that lined his face yesterday seems to have grown double in the few hours that this has been unfolding. You can see the circles under his eyes. You want to reach over and…what? Nothing is sexier than a woman covered in creature gunk. The thought makes you hold back.

            “The many hearts…I wasn’t sure if it was going to work or not. It was just a whim to stake it like that. I couldn’t get the phrase out of my head. But I was researching it when you went out to the wood shed and found out what they were.”

            “What are they?” You ask curiously.

            “The creatures are corrupted versions of previous hearts of Amazona.”

            There is a loud boom of thunder and you rub your forehead. You are starting to have a full blown migraine.

            “How did you come up with that theory in the first place?”

            Sam leans forward and takes a long drag off his cigarette, “If Amazona was a witch, and I think we can just accept the fact she was a witch and this entire thing is supernatural in nature…then everything we read is true. She did have ‘many hearts’. So I thought that maybe hearts would be those…things…weakness.”

            “But those things aren’t just weak in the heart. You’re saying they _are_ her hearts. Old versions, anyway.” You go, trying to follow his train of thought.

            “That’s right. They’re used up though. Their power is gone and they aren’t powering Amazona any longer. So she just uses them to collect new hearts. That’s why there are so many of them. This witch is thousands of years old. She has so many corrupted hearts to throw at us.”

            “But…where are Nadine and Elena? Why possess Nate and Sully? I don’t get it. Why aren’t you or Rafe possessed? Or me?”

            You watch Sam place his cigarette in his mouth and take a puff. He then lowers the cigarette and blows out the air. It clouds his face for a moment.

            “I have a theory but I have no idea how right it is.”

            “I don’t have a theory at all so tell me.” You press.

            “I think Amazona only takes women’s hearts. But I don’t think Nadine and Elena are dead. I think there is some ritual she has to use. And I just don’t think she has gotten to you yet.”

            “And Nate and Sully?”

            Another drag off the cigarette, “I think she can possess men with her powers. She can’t take their pure hearts so she just uses them as instruments of her will. I don’t think she’s possessed me because she knows I’m the one that accidentally released her.”

            “What? You?”

            “Remember I broke that vase in the burial chamber? She had to be in it. Had to be. This whole thing is my fault.”

            “Whoa, hey, don’t go blaming yourself like that.” You say and you move so that you are sitting next to him, “You had no idea that any of this would happen. We thought she was in the coffin. Not in a vase that you broke. Besides, wouldn’t she be happy you freed her?”

            “You would think. I don’t know. Just a theory. Has to be some reason she hasn’t possessed me.” His voice is distant.

            “What about Rafe?” You ask and before you can stop yourself, you rest your fingers on Sam’s arm.

            “Really? Come on.”

            “What does that mean?”

            “Rafe doesn’t have a pure heart. Probably why he just lost a hand instead of his mind.”

            The two of you fall silent as you consider Rafe’s purity. Sam has a point. He has known Rafe longer, after all. He doesn’t exactly seem like a chalice of purity.

            “Alright, so…we have this theory. About how she is collecting pure hearts. Like in _Sailor Moon_.”

            Sam crushes his cigarette out on the tile floor. His body is warm. Being this close to him is conjuring up memories that would be better forgotten, especially now. How can you be thinking about your time together with everything going on?

            “Right, but we can’t exactly use tiara magic to get out of this.”

            “Moon spiral heart attack,” You correct quickly and when Sam looks at you, you mumble, “What? You said the wrong attack. Tiara magic was season one.”

            For the first time since you have gotten back from the wood shed, Sam smiles, “I’m really glad you’re okay. It killed me I couldn’t go with you. I wanted to – maybe if I had…Rafe…”

            “No, then he would have been alone here. Something worse could have happened to him. If we make it out of here, Rafe will be alive. Just…one arm down.”

            Sam reaches over for your hand. His fingers curl around yours. You can feel his pulse racing, giving off how nervous he is.

            “Originally, I missed this…I missed…” He trails off for a moment before going, “Us. Exploring. Discovering these ancient places together. I thought this might…”

            Your throat feels tight. You want to tell Sam not to say it. You both might not make it through this night alive. The idea of even talking about the future seems downright cruel to you.

            At the same time, you desperately want him to kiss you. The issues that the two of you had when you were together seem unimportant now. Did it matter that Sam hadn’t want to leave this life behind? In the end, you had returned to it as well for the legend of Amazona. Now the two of you were here together.

            Before you can stop yourself, you are leaning forward to kiss him. Sam doesn’t seem to care that you look like you have just come out of hell. His fingers are tilting your face up to look at him. Your heart is racing – but for the first time in hours, it is for a good reason.

            Yet just as Sam is about to kiss you, there is a mumbled cry of, “You two are going to make me hurl.”

            The moment officially ruined by Rafe, the two of you blink as if a spell has broken. You are pulling away from Sam and getting to your feet. Your face is flushed as you pick up your candle and make your way to Rafe.

            “How are you feeling?” You say, glad that he cannot see your face.

            “Oh, just fucking fantastic. I’m thinking I might become a one armed weather forecaster. I can predict storms. Or is that a psychic? Who can create storms? Isn’t she an X-Men? Or X-Woman?” Rafe’s voice is hoarse and slurring as he rambles, hardly making sense.

 You press your hand against his forehead and can feel him burning up.

            “Sam,” You ask over your shoulder as he comes into the room, “Do we have anything for fever?”

            “Elena had some stuff in her purse she was giving to Nathan. There wasn’t anything in the first aid kit besides the bandages.”

            “He needs painkillers.” You are aghast at the idea that Rafe has lost a limb and has no pain medication.

            “Upstairs,” Rafe’s voice rattles, “Upstairs guest bath. There is medicine up there.”

            “You don’t have anything down here?” Sam asks before going back into the bathroom to check.

            “No. Never…needed it.” He is slipping away again and lets out a stifled groan of pain.

            You go over to Sam and grab his arm, “I’ll go upstairs.”

            “No, I’ll go.”

            You shake your head, “No, Sam. You’re a better shot, first off. You’re stronger than I am. If Nate or Sully escape, you’d be better at fighting them. I’ll just run upstairs, get the medicine, and come back down.”

            “No, I’m not letting you put yourself in danger again.” Sam protests.

            On the bed, you can hear Rafe going, “I used to hold the golf club with this hand. Used to swing the club with this hand. This hand…this hand…”

            “He needs the medicine now. The pain is driving him out of his head.” You open up the duffel bag, trying to find a gun that you can actually work properly.

            Sam yanks on your hand, turning you back around, “No.” He says firmly.

            “I’m not asking for your permission.” You say hotly, “I know you’re concerned but I have to get this for Rafe. You have to keep things in control down here. We don’t have time for this, Sam.”

            He knows you are right. He lets go of your hand as you grab a gun and your machete.

            Rafe lets out a gasp of pain and is looking down at his stub. His eyes are wild as he looks over at the two of you.

            “I’m like Big Boss.” He goes although you aren’t sure if he is even directing it to either one of you.

            You look back at Sam, “Take care of Big Boss here, alright? Make sure he doesn’t lose an eye on top of a hand.”

            You go to the doorway when Sam says your name. You stop and look over your shoulder. Clutching your flashlight, you can barely make out the concern etched on Sam’s face. He looks as if he wants to say something important…

            Instead, he goes, “Kylo Ren is a dick with a redemption arc or not.”

            You scowl, “We’ll fight about this later but you’re wrong.”

            And before either of you can get emotional, you leave the room.

*

            Upstairs, guest bathroom, medicine, back down the stairs. Simple enough. If you hurry, it should take you five minutes tops. Three minutes if you decide to attempt Sonic the Hedgehog speed.

            With your flashlight pointed along the stairs, you begin to walk up them. A quick glance at the living room entrance shows you Sully still passed out. You can’t see the rest of the room. The creature’s corpse is still on the dining room table.

            Some stair creeks underneath you and you wince, waiting for monsters to leap down the stairs at you. There is a loud clap of thunder which makes the house shudder. The shadows seem to stretch and warp around your candle light as you make it to the second floor.

            In the back of your mind, you sort of wish Lara Croft was here after all. Not that Sam wasn’t nice to have around. But you heard she was fearless and you wouldn’t have minded being around someone fearless at the moment.

            You pad down the hallway. It doesn’t even feel like the same hallway from hours ago. Everything looks twisted, as if you have stepped into a carnival fun house. Your heart is thudding in your chest so loudly that you swear Amazona can hear it. She can just reach out and pluck it from your chest…

            You stop in front of the bathroom and nudge it open, raising your flashlight. It is empty. Nate’s overnight bag is shoved in the corner. Elena’s toothbrush is on the sink. You remember there are two bathrooms up here. Rafe didn’t say which one it was.

            Hoping against hope that you have the right bathroom, you open up the medicine cabinet. There are rows of medications here. Relief sweeps through you. You open up the small bag you have brought and just knock the entire row into the bag. Fuck it. You’ll bring them all.

            You turn around, determined to get downstairs quickly. You’re almost done.

            There is a flash of brilliant lightning. The entire bathroom is illuminated in a glow of light for a few seconds.

            Those few seconds are all you need to see Nate, possessed, wild-eyed, and free, looming in front of you in the doorway, clutching an axe.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Amazona closing in around you and Sam, the two of you know that you are going to have to go to her directly. Will you even survive making it to the woods?

                “Go away.”

                “Wait, wait, c’mon. Hear me out. Just once.”

                You shake your head at Sam – Sam Drake – who has the balls to show up outside your apartment as if the two of you hadn’t gone through a long and torturous break-up. You go to shut the door and he stops it with his foot.

                “Hear me out.” He repeats, almost pleading with you.

                Staring at him on your doorstep, his eyes wild with excitement, smelling of cigarettes, wearing that hideous denim jacket, you go against your better judgement and say, “What?”

                He relaxes slightly and you open the door wider so he can come inside. Just seeing him is making your heart ache, reminding you of all the time the two of you have spent together. You know he isn’t here to ask you to come back to him. You know him too well for that. He is too proud to admit he messed things up. No, he has come here for another reason.

                “Sam, what is it?” Your tone bristles with annoyance.

                He turns around to look at you. You know what that look means. He holds out a thin piece of paper. You grab it from his hands, making sure not to touch his fingertips and look down at it.

                “It’s the location of the burial site of Amazona,” Sam goes even though you know what it is just from glancing down at it, “I found it based off your research. You’ll come with me, won’t you?”

                You hesitate even though you want to go with every fiber of your being. But being that close to Sam, knowing that you can’t touch him…that he doesn’t belong to you in that way any longer…

                Sam, as if sensing your thoughts, comes close to you. He doesn’t touch you but you can feel the heat of his body. The body you know so well, the same body you used to explore every night –

                “Please.” He goes quietly, “Don’t pass this up because of me.”

                Your eyes flick up from the page to his face. For the first time, you cannot read the expression behind his eyes.

                And before you can stop yourself, you reply, “Alright. Let’s go.”

*

                Nate swings his axe down towards you. You tumble backwards, tripping over the toilet and dropping your flashlight. Landing painfully into the shower, the back of your head slams into the wall. Your gun spins away from you, next to the bag. Your vision blurs for a second from the impact and it is as if you can feel your skull crack. Nate is already bringing the axe back over his head. The whites of his eyes seem to glint in the darkness.

                You kick out your feet. They connect with Nate’s knees but he hardly seems to notice. You duck just in time. The axe hits the shower wall, cracking it and getting stuck. As he tries to yank it free, you crawl by him, getting to your feet.

                You are about to take off at full speed but curse yourself. The bag with the medicine is by the toilet. You had dropped it in surprise when Nate had come up from behind. Swearing loudly, you turn back around and grab the bag, gun and flashlight.

                The extra couple of seconds that it takes for you to grab the items is enough that Nate has freed the axe. He spins around. His fingers are twitching around the wooden handle and he rolls his head back and forth.

                “Why don’t we talk this out?” You bumble as you back away from him slowly, heading out into the hallway, “We can discuss the pros and cons of dismembering me after I give Rafe his medicine.”

                Nate twitches again. It reminds you of a computer glitching out. Now in the hallway, you try to figure out if you can run down the steps. But even if you do, that will just lead Nate to Sam and Rafe. That is just bringing the danger to them. You can’t do that either.

                There is no change in his expression, nothing to indicate that he even has heard you. You refuse to use the gun on him because the last thing you want to do is kill Nate. You just need him to stop coming after you with a fucking axe.

                He lunges and lets out an inhuman scream. You duck and press off the floor with the balls of your feet, lunging into him. The axe falls from his hands, stuck in the wall. Secretly glad that he doesn’t seem to be that great with wielding an axe, the two of you fall to the floor of the hallway.

                You raise your arm back and punch Nate across the face, “Stop attacking me with an axe!” You scream at him.

                You are about to punch him again when he grabs your throat and begins to squeeze. Then he tosses you off of him as if you are no more than a feather. You land on the floor awkwardly. The bag has broken your fall but between being tossed around like a rag doll and slamming your head against the shower, everything feels as if you are in slow motion.

                Nate is coming towards you. The axe is forgotten. Instead, something is glinting in his hand. It is too dark to see what it is. Desperately, you think of the gun that you have dropped by the axe. Even if you had it…you still couldn’t shoot Nate like that.

                He is on you and picks you up by the throat with both hands. You try to speak but your voice is cut off. The possession makes Nate so strong that all you can do is try to pry his fingers off of your neck. Nate pounds you against the wall and lowers his other hand from your neck. It is then you see what he is holding. It is a butcher knife. Where the fuck did he find that? He must have had it on him somewhere.

                “ _I’m going to carve out your heart.”_ It is that voice again – the voice of Amazona – coming through Nate’s mouth – that terrible sound of a wood chipper and chainsaws.

                You manage to squeak out, “But then I’m dead.”

                “ _I don’t need you alive to use your heart, foolish girl. You have the heart that is going to replace my old one. The purest heart of this group of morons_.”

                Nate’s grip hasn’t loosened. Both of his hands are wrapped around your throat. The knife glints near your face. He is holding it in one hand and it is pressing against your neck. Your head is starting to feel light and it is harder to focus on whatever Amazona is saying.

                “ _The other girls are going to be the conduits for my power. Their hearts will grant me enough power to start the ritual to use your heart. Your armless friend has the dark heart I need for the other part of the ritual_.”

                Rafe. She means Rafe. That is why no one has come up here after all the noise you must be making. Sully is probably going after Sam and Rafe. The words Amazona has said to you seem to go in one ear and out the other. There is darkness around your vision, a dark cloud that is settling in around you as Nate tightens his grip.

                The first time you have faced down death, you thought about Kylo Ren. The second time, all you felt was a blind panic. This time, however, it is almost as if you are going to sleep. Are you going to feel Nate carve out your heart? What will he do with it, you wonder? Take it lovingly to Amazona and the rest – Nadine, Elena, Rafe and…Sam.

                It is the thought of Sam somehow being murdered or put through the ritual that gives you a jolt. As Nate raises up the knife to plunge it into your chest, you begin to thrash with renewed energy. He lets out a growl. But in the motion of raising the knife, he has loosened his grip on your throat to only one hand. As he brings his other hand down to grip your throat again to try to quell your thrashing, you sink your teeth into his hand. You feel skin and blood in your mouth.

                He lets out an alarmed noise and drops the knife. You bring your foot up as hard as you can in between his legs. A howl of pain comes out of his mouth. Huh. Guess even getting kicked in the balls hurts even if you’re possessed.

                You grab the knife. Your throat feels scraped raw and you can taste Nate’s skin against your teeth. Each breath you take hurts and stings your lungs. The floor feels as if it is made out of water. You are bobbing along the ocean now. Nate is regrouping. He is searching for the knife. The handle of the blade is shaking in your hand. Your palms are sweaty, making it difficult to hold onto it.

                Nate sees you and tries to swing at you. You grab his wrist and before you can second guess yourself, flatten the palm of his hand against the wall. Then you bring the knife down through the skin, pinning him. It is almost like tacking a poster against the wall, you think woozily.

                He lets out another screech. Knowing that Amazona will just force Nate to tug his hand free until he injuries himself, you hurry over to the axe he dropped earlier. As he tries to pry the knife out of the wall and his hand, you turn around and bring the handle of the axe down across Nate’s head.

                He wavers and then tips forward. The knife snaps free of the wall, toppling to the floor, covered in Nate’s blood. He is face down, unconscious, yet still breathing. You drop the axe, staring down at him. Your own breathing is coming fast and hard.

                He doesn’t move. Knowing that you have succeeded in knocking him out, you grab your things and hurry down the staircase. You keep your flashlight raised, trying to shove the terror that is threatening to overtake every single one of your senses.

                You round the corner and bump into something. Letting out a shriek, you raise your gun –

                “It’s me!” Sam’s voice slices through your fear and you drop the gun to the floor.

                He is gripping your shoulders. You can see blood pouring out of a cut on his arm. His shirt is sticky with it and the scent fills your nostrils.

                “Sam – Nate – I had to knock him out,” The words tumble from your lips and you realize your teeth are chattering again, “He wanted to take my heart. He had a knife – Amazona wants _my_ heart, Sam – mine –”

                “Are you hurt?” He asks you, running his hands over your sides.

                You shake your head but the motion leaves you feeling dizzy, “My head. I hit my head against the shower,” You grip the bottom of his t-shirt, “Rafe. She said something about Rafe. His heart is needed for the ritual.”

                Even though your flashlight is trembling, casting shadows over Sam’s face, you can see the look that passes across his features, “Sully took Rafe. They went into the woods. I didn’t go after him – I should have but – you were…I didn’t know where you were…I couldn’t leave you behind.” His voice hitches as if he is trying not to cry or scream.

                You crush him in a hug. Even though the darkness surrounds you and it feels as if Amazona is lurking around in every shadow, you need to feel Sam’s arms around you. You bury your face in his neck and for one brief moment allow yourself to feel safe. You have craved his touch.

                “We don’t have much time,” Sam finally whispers, bringing you back to the reality of your awful situation, “You said Amazona told you she wanted your heart?”

                You quickly recap what Amazona told you through Nate as the two of you prepare to head into the woods. It is the absolute last place you feel like heading into. But the thought of Rafe, Nadine, and Elena being killed in some ritual is too much to bear. On top of that, Sully and Nate are still possessed. Even if you wanted to flee, Amazona wouldn’t let you go. She wants your heart.

                No, the two of you have to find a way to end this.

                “We have to look out for Nate,” You say as you check what you have in your bag before slinging it over your shoulder, “I didn’t tie him up or anything.”

                “He’s going to come after you again,” Sam says seriously before grabbing your hand, “I know I can’t tell you where to go or what to do. But going to the ritual site…it’s practically handing you to Amazona.”

                “If I stay here, Nate is just going to come at me with a knife or a chainsaw or who fucking knows what else.” You point out.

                Sam swallows hard and nods. He realizes he is holding your hand and lets it go. It drops to your side limply. You want to say more but what can you say? Your throat still feels as if it on fire. Your head is pounding so hard you might faint. You are pretty sure you have a concussion.

                “We might not come back from this.” Sam says to you.

                “I know,” You reply, “But we can’t let her win either.”

                He nods solemnly and turns around to leave the room. You trail after him and try to prepare yourself for entering the woods.

*

                The woods at the end of Rafe’s property line look menacing and horrifying. The tips of the branches appear to scrape against the sky. The storm has kicked up again, sending leaves swirling around your feet. In one hand you are holding your machete. Your gun is holstered at your side but it isn’t offering you any extra comfort. The truth is you don’t want to have to fire it at Nate or Sully. Or, god forbid, Sam. If it came down between your death and killing one of them, you are probably going to die from indecision.

                As the clouds open up and begin to pour rain down on you, you look over at Sam. The moon is peeking through the clouds which gives you enough light to see him by.

                “Are you injured?” You are whispering even though you aren’t sure why.

                “I’m okay. Looks worse than it is. Sully nicked me with a knife.” Sam explains back in an equally hushed voice, “Listen, Amazona would need a clearing to do the ritual. The drawing – I don’t have it on me anymore…but the drawing had her in a clearing, remember?”

                “Yeah. But where is that in the forest?”

                “I don’t know. But I’m sure there is going to be some sort of signal to go by. Light. Or…screaming. Zombies. Other terrifying things.” His voice quakes a little as the two of you approach the woods.

                You come to a stop. Sam notices you aren’t walking and looks over his shoulder, “What?” He asks curiously.

                “Come on! We watched the original _Evil Dead_ together. When that woman runs off into the forest and the trees –”

                Sam exhales slowly, “You’re making it worse for yourself. I hardly doubt Amazona is interested in that. She wants to…you know, carve open your chest and rip out your still beating heart.”

                “Geez, thanks.” You mumble and before you stop yourself, you grab his hand tightly and this time, he doesn’t let go.

                As the two of you enter the woods, you jump at every twig cracking and every owl hooting. The rain seems to muffle your footsteps and make it trickier to hear if anything is coming towards you.

                “Did you see _The Forest_?” You whisper.

                “No one did.” Sam replies, moving a branch out of the way for you to duck underneath and resume walking.

                “What if we see something that like tricks us into killing ourselves? Oh my god…what if I have a twin in here somewhere?”

                “Okay, first off, you don’t have a twin. Anywhere. Secondly, pretty sure that movie was garbage so just stop thinking about it.” Sam lectures you.

                You are going to reply when a sudden noise takes you by surprise. You yank Sam to a standstill and look around. The rain and the darkness makes it impossible to see far into the distance. As you look around, raising your flashlight, you don’t see anything.

                “Maybe I imagined it.” You mumble.

                “Listen, before we go any farther, I have to know something.” Sam’s voice sounds funny which makes you look away from the woods and over at him.

                His own flashlight is lighting up half of his face. You can see that his eye is swelling. Sully must have punched him there. You hadn’t noticed before.

                “I have no idea how we’re going to kill this ancient witch.” He goes.

                “I was planning to slice her head off and then stick her through the chest with my machete.” You reply.

                “Yeah, you’re a regular Michonne,” He grabs your hand, “Amazona hasn’t touched me. I mean, she sent Sully after me, yeah. But ultimately, she wanted Rafe. She must need a terrible heart to balance out all the purity,” He shakes his head a little as if to clear his thoughts, “You have to promise me something.”

                “What?”

                “If I can help take her down, you have to do it. You have to.”

                You aren’t following, “What?” You repeat stupidly.

                “If you have to kill me to end her somehow, do it.”

                You yank your hand away, aghast at what he is suggesting, “No! What is wrong with you?”

                “Nothing. Hey, listen to me! Please!” His voice is pleading and you hesitate, “There has to be some reason she has gone after literally everyone but me. You know that’s true. Maybe because I released her, there is some sort of power I have. Something we don’t know about. But you have to make sure she is stopped before she is released on the world. Promise me.”

                You swear that you are going to cry. But you haven’t cried once this night and you feel that if you start now, you are going to sob for hours.

                “Fine,” You go, relenting, “But it won’t come to that. You’ll see.”

                Sam cups your face with his hand. It is as if he is drinking in the sight of you. Neither one of you are sure what is behind the woods. What the two of you are going to run into or stare down. If either one of you are going to make it out alive.

                “I love you.” He goes very softly.

                “I love you too.” You whisper back.

                Then you are holding his hand again and heading into the woods, together, to face Amazona.

               


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the conclusion to Final Girl Trope, you come face to face to Amazona. Determined to put an end to her and her plan, you know you have to find a way to put a stop to everything. But what terrible price will you have to pay?

            “What are you doing?”

            “What does it look like I’m doing, Sam?” You snap, shoving a sweater in your suitcase.

            Sam hurries over to you, “Whoa, whoa, are you leaving? You can’t – you can’t be serious.”

            You don’t reply. The lump in your throat is too large to say anything back. Sam is staring at you, looking aghast as you grab some more clothes from your closet and put them in your suitcase.

            He reaches out for you, saying your name and you flinch, pulling away from him, “Don’t.” You manage to say.

            “We can talk about this. I know I lied but –”

            Losing your patience, you snap, “Which time are you talking about? The first time, six months ago when you said you were leaving this life behind? Or this time, when you said you were visiting Nate and instead you were with Sully down in Africa?”

            “Listen, I can explain.”

            “I don’t want to hear it.” You mumble and you tell yourself not to cry, you can’t cry because then you will want to listen to Sam.

            You turn around and push past him, going to the bathroom to grab some things there. He trails after you.

            “Where do you think you’re going to go? Where are you going?” His voice is pleading now.

            “Back to my mom’s.”

            He reaches out for you and this time his fingers brush against your skin. You yank your arm away from him and press your lips down in a thin line.

            “I know you want to stop traveling. I get that. But this Africa trip –”

            “It isn’t about the Africa trip!” You exclaim, “It’s that you lied. You told me you were okay with stopping all this…traveling and this exploring. And then you lied about where you go. You leave the house and I don’t even know if you’re telling the truth! Are you going to the store or are you meeting up with a potential client? How am I supposed to deal with that?”

            A flash of irritation crosses Sam’s face, “What am I supposed to do? You back me into this corner! First, you tell me you don’t want to do this anymore and I say fine. But then I come to find out you mean that includes me! That I’m just supposed to stop what I want to do with my life because of you. And then you want me to be honest about it? How the fuck is that fair?” His tone is hostile, the pleading tone replaced by the friction that has been growing between the two of you for too long.

            “It doesn’t matter now,” You reply and your voice sounds small and tired, “It just isn’t working out, Sam. You know it too. So, I’m going back to my mom’s. And you can go anywhere you want in the entire world.”

            Sam doesn’t reply. He watches you leave the bathroom as you swing your backpack over your shoulder. You’ll come back for the rest of your stuff later. You just need to get out of here.

            Part of you is hoping that he will come after you as you step out of the apartment you two have shared.

            Yet part of you isn’t surprised when he doesn’t.

*

            “The concept literally doesn’t make sense.” Sam is whispering to you as the two of you make your way through the woods.

            “How?” You challenge.

            “Okay, first off, the movies say that it would decrease crime, right? One time a year, for twelve hours, all crime is legal so apparently, everyone is just going to go out and murder people only in that twelve-hour window.”

            “Because everyone would be getting it out of their system.”

            “People just don’t have the innate urge to murder building up in their system.” Sam goes.

            You turn to look at him, “Yeah but not everyone in _The Purge_ goes out and murders. People hide too. If you want to get specific.”

            Sam opens his mouth to reply when he grabs your arm and points ahead. The two of you had been bickering about the inner workings of _The Purge_ for at least twenty minutes as you attempted to find Amazona’s ritual site. Stupid, yes, but it took your mind off the fear that was threatening to overtake every nerve in your body.

            Something is darting across the tops of the trees. It moves swiftly, a dark shape against the greenery of the leaves. The rain is still pouring steadily. You are soaked to the bone and your clothes are stuck to you, making each movement awkward and uncomfortable. Your teeth have been chattering but that could have easily been from fear rather than the cold.

            Sam raises his gun, getting ready to fire but you grab his wrist. Shooting will give your location away instantly. You can tell that Sam disagrees but the way he shakes his head at you.

            The shape leaps off a branch and leads perfectly on its feet. It has seen the two of you now and is coming towards you.

            Instantly, you release Sam’s hand. He fires. The gun is so loud that your ears are ringing. Paired with how your head is still aching after you smacked your head against the shower wall earlier, your vision blurs slightly.

            The bullet cleaves through the monster’s shoulder yet it doesn’t seem to care. You are gripping your machete and trying to find a way to shove it through the monster’s chest –

            When something hits you in the head from behind. You go flying forward, face down in the dirt. Something is on top of you. Its scaly, disgusting hands are wrapping around your body, lifting you up. You try to break free but your vision is darkening quickly.

            “Sam!” You shriek, twisting and wiggling in the monster’s arms.

            Misdirection. The first creature had just been to trick the two of you while another one came up from behind. Dimly, for some stupid reason, you think of that _Jurassic Park_ scene.

            Then everything goes dark.

*

            Your head hurts so much that the pain seems to take over your body in waves. Are you dead? Maybe Amazona has already ripped out your heart and used it in the ritual. You find that you don’t care too much if she has. Anything to end this night.

            Groggily, you open your eyes. You blink rapidly to try to clear your vision. You can’t move. As your vision clears up, you realize that you are tied up. You look around, panic surging through you as the horrible image comes together.

            You are tied to what appears to be a tree trunk. It has been cut down and shoved in the middle of a clearing, next to a roaring fire. Your hands and feet are firmly tied with rope. Your mouth is gagged with fabric.

            As you look down, you see that you have been cleaned up. The dirt and grime of the events have been hastily scrubbed off you. Your clothes are different as well. You are wearing what looks like a white sheet.

            Ah, the white ritual outfit. Definitely a sign that you are going to die. Wonderful.

            Across from the fire, on the other side of you, are Elena and Nadine. They are unconscious and tied up as well. Through the flickering flames, you can see that they appear to be uninjured and have their limbs intact. You are relieved at that – but not enough to quell your nerves, knowing that the only reason they are unharmed is because Amazona wants to use their hearts for the ritual.

            Unlike the three of you, draped in white, Rafe is dressed in all black. Tied to a similar tree trunk, farther removed from the group, you can see he is doing the worst. His skin is clammy and he looks feverish. His lips are moving even though he is unconscious, as if he is dreaming. His stump has been unwrapped, showing how badly he needs medical attention.

            You don’t see Sam. You don’t see Nate or Sully either.

            With renewed vigor, you try to break free of your bonds. You have to get out of here. You must set everyone free and escape. But the rope rubs your wrists raw and you get nowhere.

            “ _You’ve been quite a bother, girl. I have to admit something, a secret – I like the challenge_.”

            The voice slinks out of the darkness and seems to wrap itself around your head. Fear, which had been dimmed momentarily by your focus on breaking free of the rope, comes back full swing.

            “ _The other pure hearts I’ve gathered over the years never fought. They always tried to speak to me. They thought they could bargain with me as if I were interested in such things. But you, you knew right away what I was going to do. You knew I wasn’t interested in speaking_.”

            Amazona’s voice seems to be coming from all directions. Your breathing is coming hard and fast now as you wiggle against the bonds that are holding you in place. The fire appears to grow as if it fueled by Amazona herself.

            “ _Even though you are going to die tonight, your heart will live on in my chest. You’re blessed. You should be thanking me. You’re going to live a very long time and do many great things. More than you would ever do if you had lived your own dull life_.”

            You try screaming. It is the only thing left to you. Your screams are muffled and no one stirs. Where is Sam? If Amazona has done something to Sam…

            “ _You know what the trick is to my ritual, dear? Trial and error throughout the years has shown me the way to have the heart at its most pure when I take it from your chest. See, originally, I was going to have that boy you call Nate just rip it out of you. I’d power it up myself, killing these fools, and place it inside of me. But then…_ ”

            The voice seems to be growing closer to you now. You keep shrieking out Sam’s name but nothing happens. You don’t care about yourself any more – you are terrified that she has killed Sam.

            “ _I noticed just how much that boy who freed me meant to you. I could feel it in your heart. And you know what makes a pure heart even stronger before death? Sadness._ ”

            From behind Rafe comes Nate and Sully. They are still possessed. The whites of their eyes glint in the light of the fire. They are dragging Sam along in between the two of them. He is knocked out. His head rolls from side to side. You can see how marked up he is from whatever fight he got into earlier.

            Amazona’s voice feels like skeleton’s fingers clawing up your spine, “ _He isn’t dead. Not yet. Originally, I was going to let him go. He did free me, after all, even though he wasn’t aware. But when I saw just how much you loved him, I knew he could make your heart even stronger. Don’t cry, dear. When the fire takes him from you, you will only know horrible grief for a few moments before the ritual starts_.”

            Your mind is empty. The only thing that is blazing across your brain is fear so real that it almost feels you could touch it. Nate and Sully are hauling Sam towards the fire now.

            That is when Amazona comes out from behind you. She slinks in front of you and for the first time, you are face to face with the witch you have spent most of your life chasing.

            Time has not been kind to Amazona. Her skin is rotting and her hair is falling out, exposing her scalp. At some places, you can see bones underneath, jutting out from where the skin and muscle have left. Her dress is dirty, clinging to her, and when she smiles, she is missing most of her teeth. Her eyes are empty and instead are just glowing blue sockets. She smells terrible, like a corpse that has been set out in the sun for a week and the doused in perfume to try to mask the stench of death.

            “ _Your heart_ ,” She says to you and runs a bony finger along your chest, “ _Will make me whole again, do you understand_?”

            You do. You suppose Amazona looks like she’s been rolling around in the gutter with a bunch of corpses because she is low on energy. Once she takes your heart, she will be beautiful and young again, ready to maim and murder at her pleasure.

            If this is her weakened, you fear for the world if she is at full strength again.

            “ _You’re going to watch your lover die now_.” Amazona whispers to you and then turns away to face the fire.

            She barks something in another language to Nate and Sully, who begin to bring Sam towards the fire. You are crying now. The tears are rolling down your cheeks as you try to break free. You cannot watch them burn Sam alive. You aren’t going to let them do this – you have to do something – Not Sam – just kill you instead and leave Sam alive, please –

            There is a groan from the direction of Rafe. Startled, you turn to look over at him. Amazona stops what she is doing and marches over to him. She shouts something at Nate and Sully.

            They’re drugged, whether by magic or from some brew Amazona whipped up. It dawns on you when you see Amazona’s surprise at Rafe waking up. Sam has been dropped by the fire. His chest is rising steadily but he shows no signs of waking. Your wrists are bleeding from how much you have been rubbing the rope against them in your efforts to break free.

            Rafe’s eyes flutter open and he looks around. He is faster than you to catch on – probably because the witch is looming in front of him.

            “Jesus,” His voice is hoarse, “You’re hideous.”

            Amazona says something to Sully who leaves. You cannot see where he goes. Then she wraps her hand around Rafe’s neck.

            “You gonna choke me out again?” Rafe asks her in an almost casual tone, “Listen, that’s my girlfriend you have tied up over there.”

            Sully has returned now and hands Nate a cup. It must be the brew that knocked everyone else out. Amazona snatches the cup from Nate’s hand and grips the sides of Rafe’s face. He actually laughs and then spits right in her face. Leave it to Rafe to be a pain in the ass up until the very end.

            You glance over at Sam. In the couple of seconds that you take to look over at him, suddenly Amazona is shrieking. Alarmed, your head snaps back to look over at Rafe.

            She has gotten too close. Rafe has somehow bit her entire ear off. He spits out the fleshy bit and cackles, throwing his head back. The blood of Amazona is dripping down his mouth. The witch is shrieking, holding her hands against her ear hole as Nate and Sully try to help her.

            She pushes them off. A noise, so soft that no one else hears it besides you, gets your attention. Tearing yourself away from the sight of Rafe cackling and Amazona cursing in her own native language, you hear it again. A soft groan.

            Sam is waking up.

            You want to shout at him, tell him to wake up faster and hurry the fuck up, but you don’t want to give it away that is he waking up. Anxiously, you look back over at Amazona.

            “Come here, lemme bite off more of ya.” Rafe slurs as if he has completely gone off the deep end.

            Sam has propped himself up now and is looking around. You are almost positive that Rafe has seen Sam has woken up because he is now acting even more ridiculous.

            “Are you gonna kill me yet?” He shouts at the witch, who is now clutching a knife so large that it practically blinds you when the fire glints off it. Sully or Nate must have handed it to her.

            “ _I cannot kill you yet for I need you for the ritual. But I can promise you that you will have the most painful death when I carve out your heart_.” Her voice is rising and falling with anger, sounding like a wood chipper carving up concrete.

            “I’ll still be better looking dead and with one arm than you will look when the ritual is finished.” Rafe barks out before laughing hysterically.

            Sam has hurried over behind you. You can feel him cutting through the ropes with a knife that Nate and Sully either didn’t care about or missed. Your hands are free and you rub them gingerly, taking in the sight of how torn up they are.

            Sam is moving to free your legs when Amazona turns around. It doesn’t take her long to take in the sight of Sam crouched behind you, trying to slice through the ropes. She lets out an inhuman shriek that makes your head throb painfully.

            Then she is on top of Sam. She picks him up as if he weighs no more than a pound and sends him flying across the clearing. With your hands free, you tug on the ropes around your feet and snatch up Sam’s knife.

            You free yourself and topple down into the dirt. Nate is picking you up now and slams you against the trunk of the tree. Your vision dims again and for a spilt second, you think you are going to throw up.

            Instead, you bring your fist back and slam it across Nate’s face. He takes a step back. You go to punch him again but Amazona is next to you. She grips you by your hair and pulls you backwards, sending you flying. You land with a thud in the dirt as she climbs on top of you.

            “ _Stupid little bitch_!” Her hands are around your throat, choking you.

            No matter what, she is determined to get you back to the ritual site to get your pure heart instead of just flat out killing you. Instead of trying to get her fingers away from your throat, you hold the knife of Sam’s and bring it down against her side.

            She shrieks and rolls off you. You bring the knife down again on her side. Thick, inky black blood oozes out of her rotting body from the wound. Sam is tugging you away from her.

            “You need to run! Before she gets your heart!” He says to you.

            “Don’t be a fucking moron! I’m not going anywhere! I run in the woods and I’m alone!” You cry out at him as Amazona gets to her feet, “Don’t you know about the final girl trope?”

            Judging by the confused look at Sam’s face, he doesn’t. But you grab his hand and tug him away from Amazona.

            “Any time you two morons want to set me free!” Rafe is yelling at you as both Nate and Sully scamper to help Amazona up.

            You free Rafe, who pushes you out of the way and head towards the darkness where Sully had grabbed the cup earlier.

            “Where the fuck are you going?” You hiss at him but he is gone.

            Behind you, Sam is cutting down both Nadine and Elena, laying them on the ground. Nadine stirs a little but neither one wakes up yet. Amazona is clutching her side as Sam hurries back over to you.

            “What is the plan?” He asks you.

            “She said the fire is tied to the ritual. So…I don’t fucking know! Shove her in the fire?”

            “Sure. Fire is bad, right? Witch or not. I mean, they burnt witches in fire. I’m thinking once Amazona is gone, Nate and Sully will be okay too.”

            You don’t get to reply. Amazona, Sully and Nate are coming towards the two of you. Her mouth is open and she is shrieking so loudly that it makes you dizzy. Sully grips your wrist and pulls you forward but Sam decks him across the face. Sully hardly seems to feel it even though his nose is gushing blood.

            Amazona moves too fast for a human. She darts around Sam and pushes you to the ground again, tugging you by the hair yet again towards the fire. Screaming, you claw at the earth as Nate and Sully pin Sam down against the nearest tree.

            The blade glints in Amazona’s rotting hand as she brings you close to the fire. The heat rolls off it and the smoke stings your eyes.

            That is when you notice through the flames that both Nadine and Elena are gone.

            Amazona notices it a spilt second later but it is too late. Out of nowhere, Nadine slams something – a branch? - across her skull. She lets go of you and you pitch forward. For a spilt second, you are sure you are going to fall into the fire when someone snatches you back.

            You are looking at Elena, “You alright?” She asks you.

            “Been better.”

            Amazona backhands Nadine and she falls to the ground with a groan. You push Elena out of the way as she reaches out for you. You duck and roll underneath her, practically running in a circle as you try to get back to Sam who is being held down by Nate and Sully.

            You throw yourself against Sully. It is like hitting a brick wall. Elena is hurrying over as well, determined to stop Nate from killing his own brother. Nadine is on her feet again. This time she delivers a roundhouse kick to Amazona that causes the witch to fall to the ground.

            Even though the tide has turned, you don’t feel like it is going to be enough. Amazona is too strong. Nate and Sully won’t stop attacking any of you and have this strange superhuman strength. All you want to do is push that bitch in the fire –

            Rafe comes out of the darkness. He is holding a shotgun with his one hand. You recall the duffel bag full of guns that Sam had brought into the woods. Rafe had known where Amazona had put them. As Amazona gets to her feet, Rafe doesn’t hesitate to fire directly at her chest. The recoils knocks him off of his feet and he lands in the dirt.

            Amazona flies backwards on the outskirts of the fire. She is on her back, screeching and wailing. The noises are terrifying as blood pools out of her chest, down her decaying body.

            Nate and Sully loosen their grips on Sam as if Amazona’s power is weakening. Sam shoves Nate off him and grabs you, pulling you away from Amazona.

            “Not bad for only one arm, right?” Rafe says, getting to his feet and sauntering towards the witch.

            “Rafe, don’t get too close!” Nadine exclaims.

            “I’m just gonna blow her head off and we’re out of here, alright?” He says as he points the gun down at her.

            You see her move before Rafe does. You shriek but Amazona grabs Rafe’s ankle and pulls him down. The shot gun goes off but it fires up towards the sky as he hits the ground. Then Amazona is on top of Rafe.

            Sam takes off at a run towards her. Amazona lifts the blade to bring it down against Rafe’s chest who is cackling as if the whole thing is hilarious.

            Sam slams into Amazona, knocking her off Rafe. Almost in slow motion, you see how she grips Sam’s wrist.

            Then she brings the blade down.

            At the last second, Sam turns his body as if to shield himself. The blade slices through his lower chest as if he was made of butter. You are shrieking. It sounds distant to your ears as you barrel towards Amazona.

            She looks up at you and grins wickedly as if to say she has lost – but so have you.

            You push her forward with all your remaining strength. Amazona lets go of Sam and falls backwards into the fire. The fire engulfs her as her inhuman shrieks and screams fill the air. The stench of burning flesh, like Rafe’s only a thousand times worse, fills the air.           

            You are crawling over Sam, resting his head gently in your lap. The color is rapidly draining from his face. You try to cover his wound but his blood seeps through your fingers.

            “Don’t cry.” His voice is soft and you have to lower your head to hear him.

            “Sam, you cannot fucking die,” You say vehemently, “Not after all of this. Not after what we just went through.”

            “Is she gone?” He whispers.

            Through your tears, you go, “Yes, she’s gone.”

            Sam smiles wanly at you, “Are you okay?”

            You are choking on sobs now. You can hear Nate behind you, hurrying over to Sam, but you refuse to let him go, you refuse to give him up after just getting him back.

            “Am I okay? You’re the one who just got stabbed.” You manage to say.

            “Don’t cry, love.” Sam whispers.

            And then he goes limp in your arms, leaving you alone.

*

            “Damn, we should have taken a photo when we were all in the hospital.” Elena remarks as the group heads inside.

            “Nothing says ‘wow, we’re fucking idiots’ like a group hospital photo.” Nate replies dryly as the group stops in front of the elevators.

            “God, I am so sick of hospitals.” Nadine mumbles.

            “Rafe gets out today though, right? That’s nice.” You ask her.

            “Yes, lucky me. I get to deal with armless Rafe at home now.”

            Elena nudges her, “Don’t lie. You’re happy he’s okay.”

            Nadine rolls her eyes, “Alright, yes, but don’t tell anyone.”

            “Shame he lost his arm,” The elevator doors open and Nate glances over at Nadine, “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”

            Nadine holds up her hand, “Don’t even start with me. After the bullshit you pulled that entire time? Rafe technically was key to how we defeated that stupid witch.”

            “I was possessed!” He counters as everyone steps inside.

            “Yeah, that’d hold up in court,” Nadine quips, “Speaking of possessed, where is Sully?”

            “He stayed back,” Elena explained, “He’s having a hard time accepting everything he did while possessed.”

            “Unlike Nate,” You joke, “Who seems content with himself.”

            “I am definitely not okay with anything I did while under Amazona’s control.” Nate countered.

            The elevator doors opened and the group set off towards Rafe’s room. Nadine knocks twice before entering. You trail after them.

            Rafe is propped up in his hospital bed. His arm is bandaged up and he looks a lot healthier than he had only a few days ago. Nadine leans over and kisses him gently.

            “All set?”

            “I’ve been all set for days. How come almost everyone got out before me?” He complains.

            It was true. Everyone had ended up in the hospital. Sully had a broken nose. Nate had a few broken ribs as did Elena and Nadine. You had a concussion and had only gotten out last night.

            “You lost a limb,” You point out, “More serious than Nate’s broken ribs.”

            Rafe looks down at his stump. You aren’t sure how he is going to live now without his precious hand but if Rafe proved anything over the course of Amazona, it was that 1. He was crazy and 2. He knew how to take care of himself.

            As everyone strikes up a conversation, you motion to Elena that you will be right back. She nods, understanding, and you slip out of the hospital room.

            You go down the hallway and stop in front of room 313 before opening the door and stepping inside.

            Sam is propped up in the bed, looking bored at the TV which is showing a daytime talk show. When he hears someone enter the room, he turns to see who it is.

            When he sees that it is you, a smile breaks out across his face. Even with his black eye, and wearing an ugly hospital gown, he still is the most handsome person you have ever seen in your life.

            After Sam had gotten stabbed and Amazona had died, power and communication had come back up instantly. Rafe, still clutching his precious satellite phone in his pocket, had called for help. For a couple of days, it had been touch and go on both Sam and Rafe. They were the most injured out of the group and no one was sure if they were going to pull through or not.

            But both were going to be okay.

            “Hey.” You smile, pulling up a chair next to the hospital bed.

            “Everyone fawning over Rafe? I still can’t believe he gets out today and I have to wait until tomorrow.” Sam complains.

            “Just the final layer of bullshit on a fantastic week.” You joke.

            He reaches for your hand. You never, ever want to see Sam in your arms like that again. You had thought he had died. The fact that he is here…well, you aren’t going to throw what you have away again.

            “How are you feeling?”

            “Fine. Going to have another lovely scar to add to my ever-growing collection.” He replies.

            “Better a scar than being dead.”

            “Come here.” He orders and pulls you towards him for a kiss.

            When your lips meet, your heart flutters in your chest. Sam cups the back of your neck and your mouth opens willingly underneath his lips. His tongue slips inside and you have to remind yourself where the two of you are and that he is injured before you take things too far.

            Breaking the kiss, you smile at him, “Save that for home, mister.”

            Sam searches your eyes, “If you…if you want. There is plenty of room in the apartment for you to come back. Only if you want to though.”

            You pretend to consider it before going, “Yeah, I assume that will be okay. But I’m never going after a witch again, understand?”

            He grins, “That sounds like a good idea.”

            And then the two of you are kissing again, reunited for good.

*

            The remains of the ritual site are dark and untouched. The moon is high in the sky. The fire has gone out. In the ash lays a body. The wind strikes up, rolling across the dirt, kicking up a batch of leaves.

            In the darkness, her fingers twitch.

 


End file.
